Ducks A-Z: Teemu Selanne

Each night that Teemu Selanne continues to play in the National Hockey League, it seems as if there's a new milestone that he's reached or another big name that he's surpassed on some all-time list.

His decision to return to the Ducks for a 20th tour through the NHL will mean further scaling in the record books and more associations with those already enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Consider where Selanne stands in his distinguished career after a revelatory 2011-12 season:

-- He is now 12th on the NHL all-time goal scoring list with 663 goals and fourth in power-play scores with 248, trailing only Dave Andreychuk, Brett Hull and Phil Esposito. His 1,406 points put him19th and within easy range of passing Dale Hawerchuk, Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates and Bryan Trottier.

And then there are the achievements as he sets to play at 42 years of age:

-- His 26 goals and 66 points made him the second-oldest player to have such a productive season with only a 41-year-old Gordie Howe (71 points in 1968-69) topping him. Selanne's 17 seasons of 20 or more goals is fifth-most in league history. He also became the third-oldest player in NHL history to score four points in a game.

All of that barely scratches what the 2007 Stanley Cup champion has accomplished in the game. We don't know when Selanne will truly hang up his skates and perhaps even he doesn't.

But we do know that his return is just another argument for a new collective bargaining agreement to be settled on time so that the hockey world can enjoy witnessing one of the game's greatest in action.

What he did in '11-12: Selanne got his season going on Oct. 17 at San Jose as he scored twice in a 3-2 win. It was part of a nine-game stretch in which he had five goals and 14 points. His only three-point effort came Oct. 27 at Minnesota as he assisted on all three goals in a 3-2 victory. The two-goal, two-assist night at Washington on Nov. 1 was wondrous -- only Gordie Howe and Tim Horton scored four points at an older age -- but Selanne would not match that, at least from a statistical point of view. He did rack up 22 penalty minutes (10-min misconduct and game misconduct) in a Nov. 5 loss at Detroit but he started to resume his point-scoring ways in the first half. He scored 21 points over an 18-game stretch and had a nine-game point scoring streak. Selanne scored two goals in a game twice more on Jan. 8 and Feb. 3 against Columbus. He had three more multi-point games in a four-game span in early January but had just three more afterward. He did move past friend and childhood idol Jari Kurri with his 1,399th point on March 12 at Colorado and then became the third European-born player to reach 1,400 points in a March 14 home win over Detroit. The winger also had just five goals over 24 games until he ended the season by scoring three times in the final six. Selanne did manage to go no more than three games without a point over the 82 games he played and the full schedule was the first time he did that since the 2006-07 championship year.

What could happen in '12-13: Counting on Selanne to play another full schedule would be asking too much given that he's only done it twice since 2003 but the winger is as fit as ever and should be in his customary second-line spot the majority of the season. He managed to score at least 25 goals for the fourth consecutive season and 16th time in his career but it is becoming tougher to do at this point. But the Ducks do need him to keep defying his age as they don't have many proven goal scorers among their current forward crop. Selanne doesn't score many goals at even strength and that might be a sign that he's slowing down but he could probably tally on the power play until he's 50. The irony with the possibility of a lockout is that fewer games could keep Selanne fresher in the critical second half when playoff berths can be determined. Too often he was the only offensive threat during the Ducks' early-season struggles a year ago and no 42-year-old player should be expected to carry a team like he did at times. But if the front-line performers -- Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan -- get back to their regular levels from the beginning, it'll allow Selanne to be fill more of the secondary scoring role that he should be at this stage. As inspiring as he can be to watch play, the fact that he led the Ducks in scoring last season was a sad commentary on their 2011-12. Now if Selanne delivers another 25 goals and 60 points as their fourth-leading scorer, that would be a good thing.

Next over the boards: DAN SEXTON

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